Canon brings “Beyond the Still” short to Sundance

Canon wraps up its collaborative film project by debuting the short film “Beyond the Still” at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

The short film, divided into eight chapters, started with a stage-setting segment filmed by Vincent Laforet. Filmmakers were invited to advance the storyline and add their own chapters based on the final still frame of the previous chapter throughout the year. About 20% of the final product was shot with Canon DSLRs.

Canon is also staging several workshops and events for Sundance attendees.

This isn’t the first time a film shot with Canon DSLRs has made a big splash at a festival. “Tiny Furniture,” directed, written and starred by Lena Dunham, took the jury award for Narrative Feature at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival. The filmmakers used a Canon EOS 7D. In a Q&A this summer, the producers cite flexibility with color correction as an advantage of the 7D as well as the sharpness afforded by prime lenses.

Take a look at the first seven chapters of Beyond the Still on Canon’s Vimeo page. The final product will premiere on the Sundance Channel and online Monday, February 7. The festival premiere will take place at a private event this Sunday, January 23 in Park City, Utah.